At a Trump rally in Michigan recently, none of his supporters “believed recent polling showing Trump slipping behind Harris.”
“And none could envision a world where they wake up on Nov. 6 and Trump is not the winner; if he isn’t, they say, Harris has either cheated or the election has been rigged” (see story here).
One even predicted an 80% to 20% victory for Trump if the election is “honest” and “illegal people don’t vote.” He apparently doesn’t realize people besides Trump supporters exist, or maybe just refuses to acknowledge their existence.
This is dangerous. While polling isn’t precise, can be wrong, and voters can change their minds, ignoring them is somewhat akin to a pilot refusing to believe his instruments. Believe me, the campaigns pay attention to polls.
The danger comes from people like “62-year-old Richard McLeod, who said he was a member of two Michigan militias.” McLeod said, “I’m praying he’ll transition this thing peacefully, but if not, that’s where I come in,” implying he’s willing to resort to violence if Trump loses.
Another Trump supporter, “Dan Danger, a 67-year-old retired truck driver,” said, “It’s kind of like the rabbit and the sloth. Have you ever seen a sloth? They have no brain. They work really slow. And that’s Harris.” This is a truck driver describing someone who graduated from law school, passed a bar exam, prosecuted high-level crimes, and as California attorney general ran one of America’s largest law offices with hundreds of attorneys.
You can’t reason with these people, or put facts in front of them, although that’s been known for a long time. If you try, they’ll turn their back on you. They can do that, and they’re entitled to their beliefs, even if false. They have a right to cast their votes. But they do not have a right to refuse the rest of us our votes.
Election laws determine how elections are conducted, and election officials conduct them. The certified result, not armchair second-guessing, determines the winner. If their candidate loses, they can gripe all they like; sour grapes and kindergarten-level sportsmanship are allowed. But if Mr. Two Militias resorts to violence, he’ll end up like the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrectionists: In court and in prison. That’s just how things actually work.
Where does this obstinacy come from? I have a theory. They’re told Democrats are “communists,” and think if a Democrat wins they’ll “live under tyranny.” They see what’s happening in countries like Venezuela, and if they believe that something similar will happen here if Trump loses, it’s a call to arms. I would resist a communist takeover of my country, too.
But Democrats are not communists, and democratic government isn’t tyranny. A Harris victory will mean she appealed to more voters. Is there a better way to choose our government? It’s what we have. Republicans will have another chance to compete in the next election cycle. Their passport to winning is coming up with better candidates and policies.
Cheating is a serious accusation and requires proof. Every study of voting fraud in the U.S. has shown it’s extremely rare. While a few individuals get caught committing voting fraud in every election cycle (see examples here, here, and here), there’s no evidence of widespread cheating, and our election laws and procedures make organized, large-scale cheating extremely difficult if not impossible.
Lorraine Minnite, a Rutgers professor who researches voting fraud and wrote a book about it (get it here), says noncitizens can accidentally get registered to vote “when they go to the DMV” (for a driver’s license), but adds “the number of people who fall into this category is miniscule” (see story here). The notion of widespread noncitizen voting is a myth manufactured by rightwing propagandists.
The purpose of these falsehoods is to undermine their followers’ confidence in our elections. They’re not entitled to have confidence in election results. If they don’t, that’s up to them, but they’re limited to the remedies provided by law. These include recounts, ballot challenges, and election contests. Certified results are final and binding, and we’re all required by law and citizenship duty to live with those results. People who resort to political violence are criminals, and their crime is assaulting the rights of the rest of us.